October 25, 2006 - At one Gurnee home, Halloween gets scarier and scarier every year.
For 14 years Tom Peltier's home has drawn screamingly good reviews. All homemade by the madman himself, Tom focuses on the frighteningly old-fashioned. "I've loved it all my life. It's always been a part of me. To be scared and to scare other people," said Tom. "It's my favorite time. If I had to make bunny rabbits and Santa Claus I'd be in big trouble," said Tom Peltier, artist and Halloween prop creator.
But Halloween is now his business on tomsnightterrors.com
All that creative energy is stirred up in Tom's laboratory. He starts with clay and adds some considerable sculpting talent to come up with monsters. Tom admits he's new to the business. He said he didn't know he could sculpt clay until a few months ago.
"That's right. It was something inside of me but I just didn't recognize it. But my wife was intelligent enough to see it was in me. She inspired me to start with making the props. So here I am doing something I really enjoy doing," said Tom.
For the last 27 years, Peltier said he was not happy at his work in the printing business reproducing other people's art. Now, he's realizing his own monster talent.
"To have a job doing something you love, it's not like working," said Tom.
His business has a long way to go but he has already sold some of creations to Great America.